Pub Year

Title

Author

Publisher

Original Price

Pages

Quick Search

The Hunt for Red October

None

387

The copyright page has exactly 18 lines of text, including a Library of Congress statement, but it has no statement of printing. First Edition or First Printing is NOT stated, and there is no number line. The book is heavy, weighing 1 pound, and 13 ounces. It is cloth bound with a Russian hammer and sickle embossed on the front, and silver lettering on the spine. The dust jacket has no price, and has 6 review blurbs on the back. The reviewers are (in order) Jack Higgins, Joseph Wambaugh, Clive Cussler, Edward L. Beach, John Moore, and Stansfield Turner.

Because there is no price on first edition Hunt for Red October dust jacket, it can be confused for a book club edition if that alone is the criteria being considered. But fortunately there are several other ways to tell the first edition from the book club edition we have observed. The true first edition is 9.25 inches tall, while the book club edition is an inch shorter. The first edition has 18 lines of text on the copyright page, while the book club edition has only 12 lines of text. The missing 6 lines are Library of Congress statements. The first edition is fully bound in red cloth, while the book club edition has cheaper two-tone paper boards.

To find the market value for this book, click on the pre-filled eBay, AbeBooks, or Biblio links to the right and look for comparable listings that have all of these first edition criteria.
Want to hear a sample of The Hunt for Red October? Check out our new Audible link on the right to listen to a portion of the audiobook.

Hear a sample!

Enter your search terms

Submit search form

FEdPo's Most Referenced Books:

Picture of the 1984 first edition dust jacket for The Hunt for Red October.

This is the copyright page from the first printing of the first edition.

The Hunt for Red October dust jacket has no price, which has lead many people to confuse it for a book club edition. The book club edition also lacks a price on its dust jacket. But fortunately there are several other ways to tell them apart.

Picture of the first edition Naval Institute Press boards for The Hunt for Red October.

This is the back board for the first edition of The Hunt for Red October. The ISBN should not be mistaken for a book club blind stamp.

This is the back dust jacket flap for the first edition of The Hunt for Red October.

This is the title page for the first edition of The Hunt for Red October.

This is the copyright page from the second printing.

This is the copyright page from the thrid printing. This marks the beginning of number line use, which appears on subsequent printings.

The dust jacket on the left is from the first edition of The Hunt for Red October. Notice the 6 review blurbs. The dust jacket on the right is from a third printing. It has 8 reviews, and the reviewers names are bolded.

The true first edition of The Hunt for Red October is 9.25 inches tall, while the book club edition we observed is an inch shorter. Notice too that the words "Red October" on the first edition are a dark red, while the same words on the book club edition are a much brighter red.

The true first edition of The Hunt for Red October has 18 lines of text on the copyright page, while the book club edition has only 12 lines of text. The missing 6 lines are Library of Congress statements.

The first edition of The Hunt for Red October is fully bound in red cloth, while the book club edition has cheaper two-tone paper boards.

I have a copy of this book that sounds like it might be a Book Club edition. Are these pretty easy to come by or are they rather rare? Any information that you could give me would be great. Thanks!

March 24, 2012, 7:13 am

My edition of The Hunt has three noticeable differences though the cover is the same, the title page has the row if numbers ending in 30. The order of back cover reviewers is different, though the same names, and there are no numbers imprinted on the back cover. This is an unread, bought by me originally and opened except to look at copyright page. Is this a 30th edition?

southcoastkinetics

August 7, 2012, 10:54 pm

1. The book club would not be rare. Double check to make sure the ISBN is not on rear board and confirm all points on pictures above. If it doesn't meet these qualifications, its not a first printing.
2. Sounds like you have a 30th printing of the book. 100,000+ copies have already been into circulation.

Disclaimer: This website is intended to help guide you and give you insight into what to look for when identifying first editions. The information is compiled from the experience of reputable collectors and dealers in the industry. Gathering and updating information about these books is more an art than a science, and new identication criteria and points of issue are sometimes discovered that may contradict currently accepted identification points. This means that the information presented here may not always be 100% accurate. If you spot a mistake, drop us an e-mail and we will do our best to investigate and correct it.